What connects technical trainers and materials handling productivity?

High-quality training makes efficient forklift service technicians

How can you be sure of high quality and efficiency when your forklift is serviced or repaired? Much depends on how effectively and efficiently the service technicians have been trained. Mark Nicholson looks at the contribution of technical trainers to keeping your business moving, productively and profitably.

(Executive Summary)

Shane is Technical Training Team Leader for Cat^® Lift Trucks EAME (Europe, Africa and Middle East). “Customers rely on their forklifts to get their jobs done; the longer a truck is out of action, the greater the disruption.”

It’s not just lift truck technicians who benefit from technical training. By deepening their understanding, parts department staff, factory-based engineers, managers and many others can give better advice and services. And if that training is organised and delivered time-efficiently, there’s potential for cost savings all round.

Shane emphasises that there’s a big difference in effect between good training and standard ‘tick-box’ training. “A useful analogy I was taught is this: wandering around a dark room looking for the exit, you might eventually find it – quickly or after a long time. But if you’re given a torch, you’ll find the exit quickly every time. That’s what good training does – it lights the way.”

The Cat Lift Trucks Academy

The technical – or service – training team at Cat Lift Trucks works closely with the product training team, which focuses on building up the knowledge of sales advisers.

In addition to specific courses on each lift truck product or group, they design and deliver training on cross-cutting topics. Battery care is one example. Another is TruckTool, covering the communication, performance-setting and diagnostic software used across multiple products.

Comprehensive resources within the Cat Lift Trucks online Academy include a reporting tool giving access to training records. Dealers can use this to track learner progress, check on courses completed and download certificates to add to employee records. This supports both training compliance and career progression.

Effective learning strategies

Shane stresses that there are right and wrong kinds of training. “The right kind genuinely develops a person’s skills and knowledge. Too often, people sit through courses wondering, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Every course should have clear objectives in terms of why it exists, who it benefits and what impact it will have.”

He’s also passionate about making use of innovative and engaging methods to optimise the training’s effect. Videos and 3D animations, for instance, are now giving insights into the inner workings of components and systems. Gamification, using tools such as Articulate, is an element of the team’s e-learning modules.

He and his colleagues are exploring the potential of VR (virtual reality) in training, as well as. AR (augmented reality), which is likely to be used more broadly.

Importantly, the team monitors course attendance and effectiveness to ensure that training has a real impact and supports customers. In particular, it should enable dealer staff to diagnose and resolve faults independently, without having to call for assistance. This saves substantially on downtime.

Videos, animations and gaming are amongst a variety of approaches used to maximise the training’s effect.

Efficient training delivery

A fundamental part of the training strategy is e-learning courses, available via the Cat Lift Trucks online Academy. These can be taken at the learner’s own pace, and at any time, in a choice of languages.

Thanks to Skype and Teams, the team can give live training presentations remotely – saving on travel time and expense. For special projects, face-to-face training on location is still an option.

Live training, whether online or in person, tends to take the form of Train-the-Trainer (TTT) sessions. Trainers from the dealerships attend these events and then deliver the same training to their service technicians and other staff. As well as maximising efficiency, this approach allows local trainers to transfer information clearly to technicians in their own language and answer questions immediately.

Deep and practical forklift expertise

Several factors combine to make this training more effective than standard manufacturer or supplier programmes, according to Shane. They include the organisation’s collective expertise, its innovative, engaging and customised methods, its practical focus, and its ongoing support.

“Most of our trainers are also subject matter experts themselves, bringing experience from a variety of industries. When creating new programmes, we collaborate closely with many departments, including product management, R&D, factory and technical support teams. In some cases, we even receive training at the factories while the prototypes of new models are being built. By involving as many people as possible in the process, we ensure our content and materials are always accurate and up to date, and meet all needs.”

“Our forklift training stands out because it’s built around real-world operating conditions, not just textbook theory. We use multiple ways to deliver it, and we focus especially on safety and efficiency. Operators passing our courses are not only compliant with regulations but are confident, skilled and productive from day one. We also provide post-training support and refresher options. These help dealers to maintain high safety and quality standards, and minimise downtime, long after the course is complete.”